Lifeforce Review (1985)

While investigating Halley’s Comet, the crew aboard space shuttle Churchill discovers an alien spacecraft. Upon further exploration, the crew comes across a mass of dead bat-like creatures and three glass coffins, each containing a naked humanoid subject: two males and one female. The crew secures the coffins, brings them aboard their ship, and heads back to earth. On their way back, earth loses contact with the crew and a rescue team is sent to unearth the problem. They find Churchill almost completely decimated by fire and the entire crew missing. However, the three glass coffins and their subjects are still intact.

The three are taken to a lab in London for research. Upon testing, the naked woman wakes and drains the doctor of his “lifeforce,” leaving nothing but a dried up corpse behind. The woman escapes the facility and is let loose upon London, draining bodies and using others as her host. (Think Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets Species)

On paper Lifeforce looks great: a Dan O’ Bannon script about space vampires, directed by Tobe Hooper, and starring Patrick Stewart. Sounds awesome right? Not that is was a bad movie in any way; it just didn’t quite live up to what could have been.

The film’s biggest problems come from pacing, design, and I guess for lack of better words, underutilized ideas. Admittedly, the movie is about space vampires, except over ¾ of the movie is spent on earth. Although the movie begins in space, it never really feels like you’re there. The space sets and the special effects are a bit shoddy and it is basically (for sci-fi nerds at least), just a big let down. My second problem is that when I think of space vampires, I think of a little more than a naked woman. Though we do get to see a little more of what I would consider an actual space vampire towards the film’s conclusion, this is just another let down of what could have been. My third problem came from the film’s pacing. Lifeforce is a two-hour movie that starts off quickly, then hits a pretty big lull, and picks up again towards its climax. Shaving off 20-30 minutes would have worked wonders, moving the story along and keeping the viewer entertained. I think a better score would’ve helped with the tone of the film as well. The score reminded me of something we’d be more likely to hear in a super hero movie, especially in the opening title sequence.

Now there were also a number of things I felt this movie did well. Aside from the beginning space sequences, the special effects were pretty cool. The bodies of those whose lifeforces’s had been drained were pretty effective and very reminiscent of the half corpse from Return of the Living Dead, which ironically came out the same year. These were all done with practical effects, which I know we all enjoy. The acting across the board was pretty good, though I think more Patrick Stewart would have been nice. The story itself was good too, though it wasn’t told as effectively as it could have been.

All in all, Lifeforce is an ok film. Its length makes it a bit boring at times. With an R rating, some blood/gore would have been nice; with the exception of one scene there really wasn’t any. It had a lot of good ideas and intentions, though I felt that many concepts were underutilized. This is one of those movies that could’ve been awesome, though it could’ve been a lot worse as well. If sci-fi horror isn’t your thing, I wouldn’t bother, though if you are a sci-fi nerd like myself, it’s worth a watch. 5.5/10